Chipotle Lime Salmon

I love this recipe because it is so fast and easy, I actually made it after a long day, when I was making dinner at 11 pm.  It takes 20 minutes. 

1 lb salmon, cut into 4 fillets
1-2 TBS olive oil
2 limes, sliced in half
1 tsp celtic sea salt
1 tsp chipotle powder

Preheat oven to 500 degrees
Place salmon on metal baking sheet
Rub each fillet with olive oil.
Squeeze lime juice from one-half onto each fillet
Turn down oven temperature to 275
Place salmon in the oven and cook for 12 minutes.

That's it!  You have a delicious piece of salmon!

Training for the Marathon Part 2

Marathon Training Update!

Hello friends and supporters!  I had planned on doing at least a monthly update --- but I am long overdue!!  I do want to thank those of you who have donated to this cause already.  It is because of you that I kept up the training, sometimes against all odds.  When I’m too busy, it’s too cold, I don’t feel well, etc., I remember all of you, and your commitment and generosity inspires me to do it!  There were several times I knew I wouldn’t have gotten up and out of bed early in the cold weather without your support!

So a lot has happened since I first announced that I would be running in the Chicago Marathon with Team Taller de Jose back in March.  Of course the first major obstacle was just the mental part – thinking to myself, really, I’m going to do this? What did I get myself into? I can’t do this…. Etc. etc.  This meant that my first goal was simply to begin building my confidence.  “Official” training didn’t start until May 16^th, but I wanted to be in a really good place before May so that I’m starting already feeling like those long runs will not be a problem and wanting to be in a place where I could actually run a half marathon at the start of the training season.  I had read somewhere that I actually shouldn’t increase my mileage too much until closer to the race (as in probably during training season) so that I don’t risk injury and over-training.  However, because of my traveling, Coach Mark recommended that I do increase mileage, understanding that when I travel I may not be able to run at all or may not be able to run long distances. 

My first trip was “local” – as in within the U.S.  I was in San Diego for the School Social Work Association of America conference and board meeting.  This was fantastic.  I had perfect running weather and got a good start on my “building confidence” goal.  Most of the days I was there, I ran along the bay, enjoyed myself, and did okay – was slower than I would have liked, but I could do the distance I set out to do.  Of course, then I looked online for places to run in San Diego and noticed one place that was listed as “beginner” and had hills.  Well, for my flat lander self from Illinois, those hills did not feel like “beginner” hills!  They kicked my butt! I was very glad I chose beginner hills!   Here’s a picture from one of my runs along the bay.  I would be embarrassed to show you pictures of the “hills”

Next, I had two more “local” trips.  I was invited to do a professional development workshop at University of Maryland and then the following week at Eastern University in Philadelphia.   I was able to do both outdoor running in VERY cold weather and some indoor treadmill running on these trips.  Did I mention I was freezing!  I wasn’t adequately prepared for my outdoor runs as I was trying to pack light.  Nothing like freezing cold weather to make you want to run REALLY, REALLY fast to get it OVER WITH! 

Following this trip, we had our wonderful colleagues from Mexico and Ecuador visiting Dominican University as well as a colleague from Ireland doing field research with the Chicago Irish community.  The colleagues from Mexico and Ecuador arrived the weekend of the Shamrock Shuffle.   In solidarity, my husband ran the Shamrock Shuffle 8 k with me.  This was also a wonderful opportunity to meet and run with my team – Taller de Jose!  Here is the picture of our group.   

Lots of eager faces running for a great cause! I hope this picture is inspiring to many of you regarding the small but mighty group of people running to raise money for Taller de Jose.  For those who don’t know, Taller de Jose offers accompaniment to people, connecting them to services and services to people.  Accompaniment is a way of walking with people, listening to people fully, being present, and doing your work with love.  Those receiving services feel they are treated with respect and experience the power of  being heard.  While other organizations have experience a drop in undocumented or unauthorized service user, Taller de Jose’s numbers have continued to grow, which is a testimony to the trust that the community has with them.   If you would like to donate to this cause at the end of the update, I will post the click and pledge link.  Here is the link for Taller de Jose in case you would like to learn more about them:

http://tallerdejose.org/wordpress1/index/

In April, I was off to Germany and then Azerbaijan for some work related to the Fulbright project.  This was an ideal opportunity for training.  I had the opportunity to run along the river in Frankfurt.  Actually because I could withdraw money from an ATM and was having a hard time exchanging dollars oddly enough in Europe, I had no money for public transit.  I couldn’t pay with credit card either because I had no pin number for my credit card as I do not use them for cash.  So I had no choice but to walk or run everywhere.  I think I averaged about 10 miles of walking per day, plus 4 miles of running.  On one of my runs, it got kind of dark on my way back, and I was actually kind of scared because I was running on a fairly deserted path (don't tell Rolando please), so this was quite a motivator to run fast and furious.  Yep, I had pretty good time on that run.  

Once I got to Azerbaijan, my goal was to run at least one half marathon by the time I left the country.  The first week, with some jet lag and a tight schedule, I only got about 3 runs in including the first day I arrived.  I could wait to run along the Caspian Sea.  As I have said, this is one of my absolute favorite countries for running.  The weather is perfect, the sea is beautiful, and if you want hills, you got ‘em.  Plus, it’s really safe and I can go out even at night if I want.  The boulevard along the sea is always busy with people.  Indeed, my running benefited tremendously from being there.  I also was able to get back into a routine of morning runs the second week I was there.  I ran long distances along the Caspian Sea.  I didn’t make it the full half marathon because of time constraints, but I did run at least 8 miles about three times.  I went out for three days to a beautiful region area and was able to get in a daily 30 minute run before work started.  Even though they were short runs, because of the mountains, they improved my long distance running immensely.  When I got back to Baku and ran along the Caspian Sea again, I totally kicked butt and ran fast and effortlessly for about 6 miles, and completed a total of a little over 8 miles.  I also went on an “easy” hike – yeah right, it was a steady and steep incline for 3 miles.  It was amazing, but again, excellent training.  Hiking those mountains is one of the best ways to train for the marathon.  Seriously.

I then spent a week in Chicago before going off to my next destination.  When I arrived I had a beautiful mother’s day package from my Atzin.  What an amazing, wonderful, and thoughtful son.  He bought a Polar watch for me with all the bells and whistles to assist in my training.  I used it that week, and again, felt like I made some very good progress.  I did tempo runs, Fartlek runs, long runs, easy runs, etc. according to the training schedule I had written down.  Rolando also gifted me some wireless headphones to go with my new watch for Mother's Day.  The watch downloads music so I no longer have to carry a phone, IPod or anything.  Feeling good, strong, and ready to train for that marathon!  One of the things I liked about this new device is the feedback it gives me.  So when it rates my workout as "extreme," I feel like a total bad-ass!

Then comes Guatemala with my colleague Jack and 11 amazing Dominican students.  Going to Guatemala is like going home for me.  I have so many wonderful relationships and feel so blessed to have the opportunity to visit human rights defenders and friends in this country.  It is such a beautiful example of continued resistance and resilience of a people.

I start out well, running on 6tha calle, a street blocked off from traffic with only pedestrian traffic allowed.  Which I don’t have a picture of course, because I go out running with absolutely nothing, giving the safety precautions I have to take when I run there.  I was looking forward to the hikes in the Ixil area because they are arduous and long.  While I don’t run in Ixil, I get excellent training with the hikes on those mountains.  However, I began to not feel well.  All my old symptoms were coming back – weak joints (I sprained one ankle on a hike), pain in all my joints - knees, ankles, hips, elbows, among other symptoms.  I was in constant pain when I sat, when I walked, when I woke up, when I went to sleep.  It was seriously awful.  One day I just cried, mostly because I’m so used to being active and I was in so much pain, and it was just constant – no relief.  The only thing that felt good was lying on the bed with my pillows under all of my joints (knees, ankles, elbows, wrists, etc.).  I was frustrated and did not feel well.  I think the eating of certain things in Azerbajian that contained wheat and too many sweets, combined with the corn, wheat, and beans in Guatemala took their toll.  I got back to Guatemala City from the Ixil area and cleaned up my diet.  Despite this, the symptoms did not decline.  Slowly but surely, a day before I was leaving, I finally got some relief.  I was only in pain on part of my body and it came it went, so I had some relief – that I could manage.  However, my ankle was still hurting and I couldn’t run. 

Despite challenges with my body, I left Guatemala tremendously inspired by the many men and women human rights defenders risking their lives to demand justice and things like clean water, consultation before imposing mega projects likes hydroelectric dams or open pit mining.  These women and men have survived war, genocide, militarization, criminalization, death threats, and the loss of their loved ones through extrajudicial killings, massacres, or disappearances.  I thank them for sharing their stories.  It is a gift to be in their presence and earn their friendship. 

Finally, I’m off to Nicaragua to meet social workers and understand more about the history of social work in this country. What an amazing place!  I love it and love the stories I am hearing from so many people who wanted to share their perspectives on politics and their experience during the war.  Well, guess what? I’m in the land of the song: “We are children of the corn” – they eat corn in everything! And that is one of the foods that causes the inflammation, pain, and other problems.  Oh crap.  Okay, so my ankle is feeling better – still hurts, but I feel safe walking and the little inn where I am staying has a small pool where I can do laps in the pool.  I joined a gym for the week I am here as well.  So I’m surviving physically trying to totally not lose the gains I made in Azerbaijan, Germany, and Chicago.  I have a few moments close to tears thinking “I can’t do this.” I am worried about getting back on track with my eating and getting my health back.  Really this not eating well affects me in so many ways, maybe not visible to people, but yes, it does impact me in ways you don’t even know.  I am very committed however, to get home, figure out how to get my health back on track ASAP, and continue training.  

I do feel incredibly blessed that I have had the opportunities to meet such amazing women and social workers, and just other folks who have worked hard for a just society and work hard for peace and human rights.  I’m going to take this inspiration with me and hold it close to my heart as I run for the silent heroes back home.  All the undocumented men and women, who are heroes every day they go to work, pick up their children at school, go to church, or reach out for help.  I run for them.  I run to spite all the conditions and economic injustice that led to circumstances where they had to leave their family or community.  I run to make my own country a safe place for new immigrants and people of color who have lived in the country for generations but are still seen as foreigners or not true “Americans.” 

Thank you to all my friends and supporters.  If you would like to donate, please go to this link where you can make a donation.  I have committed to raising $1,500 and I'm only 1/3 of the way there!  I've got a lot of work to do! 

https://connect.clickandpledge.com/Organization/tallerdejose/campaign/chicagomarathon2017/fundraiser/LeticiaVillarrealSosa/Donation/ 

Seafood Jambalaya

Jambalaya is a great meal and naturally paleo (without the rice). In this picture above, I used "riced" broccoli, but you can use riced cauliflower, or no rice at all.  It's funny, because my husband said, "well, shouldn't it have something with it, like rice or something," and I was like, "think out of the box! Not everything has to have a grain as a side with it!"  So to please him, I made the "riced broccoli", otherwise I might have just eaten it plain.  It has tons of veggies already.

Ingredients:
1 lb Alaskan cod fillets (cut into bite sized pieces)
1 lb shrimp (shells removed)
2 cups chicken broth
2 red bell peppers
4 carrots, julienned
1 leek, diced
a pinch of sea salt
1 TBS chili powder (I used New Mexico red chili - but any is fine)
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 TBS of butter
Hot sauce to taste (I happened to have two hot sauces from a recent trip to New Orleans - a chocolatey flavor one, and a more traditional red hot sauce). 

1. Melt the butter in a large soup pot and saute carrots for about 4 minutes.
2. Add the bell peppers, leek, and garlic and saute for another 4 minutes or so.
3. Add all the spices and the chicken broth and bring to a boil.
4. Throw in the fish and shrimp and simmer until the fish is cooked and begins to flake.
5. Add the hot sauce of your choice and to your taste.
6. Serve in bowls just as is or on top of cauliflower or broccoli rice.

Shredded Vegetable Egg Muffins

Adapted from Paleo Magazine Feb/March 2017

Ingredients:
12 large eggs
3 medium carrots (peeled and shredded)
2 medium golden beets (peeled and shredded)
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 12 cups of standard muffin pan with liners (I use the silicone and lightly spray with coconut oil). 
2. In a large bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients. Divide the batter equally into the muffin tins w/ liners.
3. Bake for about 25 minutes until golden brown.

Dehydrator Plantain Chips

Plantains are a staple in the Ecuadorian diet.  I do very well in Ecuador on a Paleo diet because plantains are the base of so many things.  So as you all may know, I'm going to be increasing my running mileage in preparation for running the Chicago Marathon and wanted to find ways to fuel my long runs.  Plantains are definitely one of those foods that I will be using.

What I learned about dehydrating plantains is that these are a really good source of resistant starch, which is good for your gut.  When they are dehydrated on a low temperature, you preserve the resistant starch and promote healthy flora.  This resistant starch is broken down when you cook them in high heat.  These were fabulous and definitely easy to carry for hiking, long runs, etc.  Enjoy!

Here's what I did.

• 4 plantains (I used ripe ones - this depends on your preference - ripe are sweeter). 
• Coconut oil spray
• sea salt

1.  Slice the plantains thinly (some folks use a mandolin, I just sliced them with a knife).
2.  Lightly coat with coconut oil.
3.  Add sea salt to your taste.
4.  Place on dehdrator racks.
5.  Dehydrate for about 12 hours, until thoroughly dry and crispy at 118 degrees. 

It's that easy and simple!

Training for a Marathon on a Paleo Diet

Training on a Paleo Diet

This is my first blog that will track how I do training for a Marathon on a Paleo diet.  I consider this my first real week (psychologically speaking) of training.  I am going to do this blog because I can't find much at all on training for a Marathon on a Paleo diet.  I guess one of the reasons for that is that it's not really Paleo to run a Marathon - it's not like our ancestors ran marathons - maybe walked and walked for days, but certainly not run long distances.   So most Paleo folks, I think, are more inclined to do cross fit type of stuff or things like that.  Of course, I don't fit into the community of runners either - as the pre-race day party for my training group includes the traditional "carbo" loading event full of pasta, which I will not be partaking in - zucchini noodles for me, thanks!  

One of my goals with this marathon is to blog about what it’s like to train for a Marathon on a Paleo diet – no pre race carb loading with pasta and other stuff like that…. Nope.  So I’ll tell you what I do instead…and how I fuel my long runs. Of course the main goal is to raise money for Taller de Jose (read below). 

This week my menu included:

Breakfast: 

Nopalitos con Huevo

Broiled Grapefruit

Shredded Vegetable Muffins

Nut Free Pumpkin Crumb Muffins

Lunch:

Basically either breakfast or dinner leftovers

Sardine Salad

Dinner:

Seafood Jambalaya

Zucchini Noodles with Marinara Sauce and Lean Ground Beef

White Chicken Chili

Snacks: 

Plantain Chips

Pan de Yuca

This week, my training was not too different than my normal routine and the diet questions and changes in carbs won't come up much until I really start to increase my mileage.  I will keep you posted on how that goes.  However, while I am open to including rice or other gluten free grains in my diet if needed, I'm going to really try to give this a go with a fairly strict Paleo diet (which does include things like potatoes, sweet potatoes, yucca, and plantains for me).  It's not accurate to say that a Paleo diet does not include carbs - it just does not include the highly processed or inflammatory grains. 

This is the message I sent to my friends about my decision to run the Marathon:

I never thought I would run a Marathon - but have really enjoyed running - as a “late bloomer” - I started running in my 40's and have been running now for about 4 years.  I remember my very first run, it probably lasted a whole 7 minutes with my son Atzin pushing me from behind saying “You can do it Mom!” Running has become a true pleasure and meditative practice for me.  I have now run two half marathons and countless 5K’s, 8K’s, and 10’Ks. 

Oh, I digress, back to the Marathon.... So I said to myself, if I ever run a Marathon, I would have to do it for a cause that I really believe in . . . and have always had in the back of my mind that I would run for Taller de Jose, an organization that serves as a resource center offering services of accompaniment.  They help people connect to services and services to people - that sounds simple, but they do so much more than that!  I became acquainted with Taller de Jose through my students at the Graduate School of Social Work, Dominican University.  I had a student in my class who was doing an internship there and what she was doing sounded amazing.  I made an appointment to visit the agency, and have since been partnering with them on various projects, and we have had many students do their internships there. 

So what’s the big deal about accompaniment and Taller de Jose? 

Well Taller de Jose offers all of their services for free – they do not charge a penny for their services.  That’s the first thing to get out of the way, in terms of why there is such a need for donations and fundraising.  Because their services are free, it means they serve many of the undocumented folks in Little Village, Cicero, and other areas in the Chicago/Chicago Metropolitan area that otherwise, would have nowhere else to turn.  My goal is to raise $1,500 dollars for them. 

Second and more importantly is the way that Taller de Jose transforms lives.  I have been in social work for over 20 years and I know that there are so many barriers for the Latinx community to access services and I also know that they are not always welcomed.  Let me share some of the quotes from service users who have had experiences at Taller de Jose that I collected during my focus groups (one of the projects I did with them was to help them identify their model):

“Oh without a doubt, TDJ helps so much.  When I came here, I came with my head down and oh, they lift your spirit (begins to cry) because at other places, I had been stepped on, treated like zero.  I am documented, and it’s the same thing, because of language or because of your skin color.  They just look at you and make assumptions.”

“My compañera is an interpreter, she helps me, she goes with me to court, she helps me fill out papers, she is with me.  She has been with me from 8 am until we get out at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. “

“I felt, I felt like I was being saved actually.  I was like, you know because I’ve called millions of people you know throughout my situation to see who can help me and my children and my mom and no one has taken the time to listen, and when she took the time to listen that made me feel wonderful.  I felt like I was being saved like someone actually cared.”

So you can see by these quotes that the website just doesn’t capture the depth of what their services provide.  It’s not just about the tangible, connecting people with resources, but it’s the way they do it and what happens when a human being feels respected and heard. 

So what is accompaniment? Here is the definition I came up with:

“Accompaniment in this context is defined as a relationship between the service user and the compañera/o grounded in values of dignity, unity, mutuality, love, and respect that uses interdisciplinary knowledge to navigate mainstream institutions, build capacity, and create more accessible and responsive systems.”

So if you would like to support my efforts and donate to Taller de Jose, here is my donation page:

https://connect.clickandpledge.com/Organization/tallerdejose/Campaign/chicagomarathon2017/Fundraiser/LeticiaVillarrealSosa/
 Donate to my effort to run for Taller de Jose - click and pledge page

If you want to learn more about Taller de Jose, here is their webpage:

http://tallerdejose.org/wordpress1/index/

Taller de Jose Facts and Stats Page:

http://tallerdejose.org/wordpress1/index/our-services/factsandstats/

I will keep you all posted on my journey!  I can’t say I’m not kind of nervous about both the fundraising AND running a marathon! I’m still sitting here as I write, thinking “I can’t believe I’m really doing this!

In peace and love,

Leticia

Coconut Butter Cookie Dough Balls

Hello paleo, gluten free, clean eating, vegan (ish) foodies!  It has been nearly six months since I last posted a recipe.  I was going through some pictures noticing that I was on quite a marathon with cooking!  With my busy schedule and travels, I haven't had a chance to post any new recipes.  I returned about a week and a half ago from a two week trip to Ecuador.  Wow! I was certainly inspired by the food there and will be working on Paleo-ifying some of the amazing food I ate while there.  Here's one example:

Caldo de Bola

This was an amazing soup with a plantain fritter sort of thing (bola) filled with shrimp in an amazing shrimp soup.  This is "Caldo de Bola con Camarón."  I will be trying to recreate a few things, in particular this caldo de bola, the many amazing ceviches I ate there, and my most favorite: Encebollado.  Stay posted for those attempts!

Well back to this particular recipe.  I had been without a fridge for over a week.  While on my travels, our fridge broke down.  I came back to an incredibly busy schedule due to facilitating a week long, all day workshop on inclusive teaching. Needless to say, I did not work on getting the fridge repaired or getting a new fridge for that whole week.  So, I come back from travels (I had been in Korea, Japan, Mexico, and Guatemala before Ecuador. Being away for so long I had to orient myself back to my home and my kitchen) and I had no idea where anything was, there were few ingredients, and we had no fridge!  With my husband in charge of the kitchen, even my vitamix lid was missing!  How can you lose that???!!! I am waiting for the replacement from Amazon.

Today, I made some ice tea (because I now have a fridge to store it).  Given that it's a very hot day today (90 degrees but the feel is like 100 due to humidity), I wanted a sweet treat without baking.  I wanted to use some coconut butter I still had, but didn't have a lot of other ingredients.  These cookies are now in the fridge as I wait for them to harden a bit.  However, I already ate one before going in the fridge and they are delicious!  So easy, no baking so ideal for those of you living in hot climates, and good for you! 

Just as a side note, also remember "fat doesn't make you fat!"  Coconut oil has medium chain triglycerides (MCFA), which is an important building block for all of our cells and can reduce cholesterol and heart disease.  Coconut oil can boost our immunity, kill bacteria and viruses, protect from degenerative diseases, and prevent osteoporosis.  Contrary to what some folks might think, the MCFAs are burned for energy and can stimulate your metabolism.  I know, it's hard to believe with how we have been socialized to fear fat.  Believe me, since I have lost my 42 pounds nearly 5 years ago, I have not put that weight back on, not even in Ecuador!  And I ate a lot!  My hypothesis is that I have managed to change my metabolism on a paleo diet.  Of course, this is total speculation based on an n of 1.  My own case study.  However, the benefits of coconut oil have been documented.  Here are two articles that discuss the health benefits of coconut oil. 

Helmer, J. (2007). Cook and beautify with coconut oil. Better Nutrition, 69(3), 40-42.  
Rubin, J. (2003). Extra Virgin Coconut Oil - the Good Saturated Fat. Total Health, 25(3), 30.

Just to offer some balance, medical doctors don't agree that coconut oil is as healthy as some claim it to be.  Of course, I don't really trust most mainstream medical doctors and always do my own research.  In truth, a lot more longitudinal studies could be done to better assess the health benefits or risks of coconut oil (most are short term - so even meta-analyses of studies are somewhat inconclusive).  You probably didn't need all that, but it's fun - I like to look up nutrition articles.

I almost forgot!!! The recipe:

1/2 cup of coconut butter (I used a bit of the vanilla cake flavor I had combined with a chocolate flavor I had).
1/3 cup of almond butter
1/4 cup of almond flour
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips

All you do is mix all the ingredients in a bowl (I softened/melted the coconut butter)
Place a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet
Use a Tablespoon to scoop the batter and make them into little balls
Place on the parchment paper and put in the fridge to cool!

All done!!  Have fun!! Enjoy!! Great activity to do with your kids!

Love you all,

Leticia